A GRIZZLY bear killed a cyclist after wandering into a campsite, triggering an intensive search as cops try to hunt down the beast.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Ovando, Montana – a town with a population of fewer than 100 people.
Cops said the bear had wandered into the site where the victim was camping before but it later returned.
The bear mauled the cyclist to death who was part of a group on a biking trip.
The victim's identity was not immediately released and further circumstances surrounding the attack remain under investigation.
Officials said law enforcement experts and wildlife specialists have been drafted in to track down and kill the beast.
A crew aboard a helicopter is assisting efforts as searchers look for a "daybed" where the beast may be sleeping to get out of the heat.
Traps have been set in and around Ovando in hopes of capturing the bear.
A local business owner reportedly captured footage of the grizzly bear on Monday night.
It's reported that a beast also raided a chicken coop prior to the attack at the campsite. It's not known if the incidents are connected.
Salon owner Tiffanie Zavarelli said it was the first attack that she knew of in the area but it has left residents shaken.
She told the AP: "The attack left them rattled. Everybody's pretty shaken up right now. The population here is 75 everybody knows everybody.
"The people from Montana, we know how to be bear aware. But anything can happen."
The fatal attack comes just months after a guide was killed by a grizzly bear while fishing along the Yellowstone National Park border in southwestern Montana.
The 420-pound beast in that attack was shot dead by officials.
And, footage captured the moment a grizzly bear charged at a Yellowstone ranger, forcing the guard to fire his weapon in a bid to scare the animal.
The guard was shocked by the beast's charge as he took cover behind his truck and fired rubber shots at the bear.
The bear ran into the forest before the ranger fired more shots into the trees in an attempt to discourage the predator from returning.
Ovando is located within a huge stretch of wilderness that extends to the Canadian border.
It is the largest concentration of bears in the contiguous US.
Grizzlies involved in attacks on humans can be trapped or killed if they are considered to be a public safety threat.
But, animals involved in non-fatal encounters can be spared if they are protecting their cubs.
Grizzly bears have been a threatened species since 1975.
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